36 minutes to leave airport! Not for long

Did you know that on an average, a passenger arriving at Ahmedabad international airport spends 36 minutes and 37 seconds on the arrival procedure, from the time of getting off the airport to leaving the terminal? However, soon they will be save a significant amount of time, thanks to in-line baggage screening (ILBS) system that is all set to come up at the airport in coming days.

As many as 25 students of Faculty of Management at CEPT were part of a four-month studio project between August and November 2018 on service operations management at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport and Domestic Airport.

They studied problem areas pertaining to parking, trolleys, departure and arrival, vehicular movement, time consumed in queues and others and gave suggestions to the Airport director. Many of these have already been implemented. Of the 25 students, 12 studied the domestic airport and 13 focussed on the international airport under the mentorship of Dr Gayatri Doctor and Paresh Vyas.

A long wait

As per the study of international airport by students, Customs hand baggage scan takes just 1 minute and 15 seconds; however, it takes 20 minutes and 40 seconds to reach the baggage reclaim counter after that, the students observed. When asked about this, Airport director Manoj Gangal revealed that Ahmedabad airport would soon be getting inline baggage screening system.

He said, “Three machines will be installed at both the airports—2 at the international airport and one at the domestic—at a cost of Rs 7 crore each. The upgradation to this system will begin after April 22 at the domestic airport and 90 days after that at the international airport.”

He added, “We are in the process of completely eradicating the process by changing it over to ILBS. We will have e-gates within 10 days that will open automatically for people to pass through after documentation.”

Elaborating on ILBS, Gangal said, “In this system, the passenger will have to simply go to the check-in counter and hand over the baggage which will be scanned at four different levels. This will considerably reduce the waiting time of the passengers.”

I really appreciate that the airport authorities have taken the suggestions by students. This proves that it was not just an academic exercise

Dr Gayatri Doctor, Associate Prof, Faculty of Management, CEPT

Currently when the passenger enters, there is a queue. When he goes inside the terminal building, there is another queue, followed by a queue near the baggage scanning

Manoj Gangal, Airport Director

STUDENTS SAID IT, AIRPORT DID IT

TROLLEY MANAGEMENT

OBSERVATION: Trolley are used haphazardly; no monitoring; no designated place for them
AIRPORT ACTION: “We are considering automatic trolley vending machine where you can put a coin and take the trolley. And when you put the trolley back, you get the money back. But due to the privatisation it is in process,” said Gangal.

CROWD MANAGEMENT

OBSERVATION: There are over 1,200 visitors against 450 passengers at the international airport, which leads to chaos. There should be sitting area around the trees outside the airport.
AIRPORT ACTION: “Now we have made seating arrangement both at domestic and international airports. A restaurant in the city side of both the airports is also in process,” said Gangal.

FUTILE EXERCISES

OBSERVATION: Concerns over immigration and security check; futility of waiting, motion, inventory, way finding, lack of priority lane and no use of latest technology
AIRPORT ACTION: “We have enhanced the area between security hold and the immigration. Also the immigration counters have been reoriented,” said Gangal. Passengers can also expect automated tray retrieval system at T2.

CHAOS AT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

OBSERVATION: No proper entry-exit point in parking of international airport. Queue not managed at the baggage scanning process at the international airport. Visibility of the flight information system was a concern. Signages not visible properly.
AIRPORT ACTION: Barricades placed at int’l airport. Flight information system re-oriented and made more visible. Proper signages placed at all places.

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